Newspaper Page Text
The Root
of Evil
SYNOPSIS
Stuart, southern lawyer in New York, Is
ih love with Nan Primrose. His friend,
Dr. Woodman, who has a young daugh
ter, is threatened with the loss of his
drug business by Bivens, whom he be
friended years before. Stuart visits the
Primroses.
Nan wants Stuart to accept a place with
Blvens' chemical trust. He dislikes Biv
ens' methods and refuses. Blvens calls
on him.
Bivens is in love with Nan. Stuart re
fuses the offer, and Nan breaks her en
gagement with the lawyer. Bivens asks
Woodman to enter the trust. .
Woodman will not yield and sues Bivens'
company. The promoter tells the doctor
he and Nan are engaged. Harriet Wood
man Is studying music, Stuart takes Nan
for a day in the country.
Btuart pleads with Nan to give up Biv
ens, but the spell of millions is on her and
she ylelds to it.
Nan becomes Mrs. Bivens. Harriet
loves Stuart, but he does not know it.
Nine years pass. Stuart becomes district
attorney. He Investigates criminal trusts,
Nan asks him to call.
Stuart wants Woodman to end his suit
against Bivens, but the doctor stands
firm. Blvens aids Stuart in his investi
gation of crooked financiers.
tory. The price of stocks had reached
fabulous figures and still soared to
greater heights. Millionalres were
springing up, like mushrooms, in a
night.
Two months had passed since Bivens
placed in the district attorney’s hands
the document which was destined to
make sad history in the annals of the
metropolis. Stuart felt that the time
had come to act. It was his solemp
duty to the people.
He sat in his private office in one of
the great skyscrapers downtown hold
ing in his hand a list of the men he
was about to ask the grand jury to in
dict for crimes which would send them
to prison, exile and dishonored death.
“I've got to do it—that's all. But be
fore 1 do, I'm going to know one or
two things beyond the shadow of a
doubt.”
He seized his telephone and made an
appointment to call at once on Rivens
The financier extended his delicate
tand and with a cordial smile led Stu
art to a seat beside his desk. The only
sign he bLetrayed of deep emotion was
the ice like coldness of his slender
fingers.
“Well, Jim, you've completed your
very thorough investigation?”
“How did you know I wus making a
thorough investigation?"
“l make it my business to know
things which vitally interest me. You
found my facts accurate, and you are
ready to strike?”
“When I have confirmed some state
ments you have made in your story
b A |
: /\
D g .
‘% 0.8
U\ R
drt e I
| W
’ \
\' ‘ \
‘ M
“The Private Life of No. £60.”
soncerning the private life of these
men. How do you know the accuracy
of the facts you state in a single line,
for instance, ahout the private life and
habits of the president of & certain
trust company ?”
“You don't suppose I would make a
statement like that unless 1 know it to
be true?”
“How did you discover it?"”
“Very simply.”
Bivens stepped to one of the great
steel safes and drew out a manuscript
notebook of some 300 pages of type
written matter. On the back of the
morocco cover was printed in plain
gold lettering: *“The Private Life of
No. 560.”
He handed the volume to Stuart,
closed the safe and resumed his seat.
“You may take that book with you.
Tim,” he said quietly. “I trust to your
honor not to reveal its contents ex
cept in the discharge of your sworn
duty as an officer of the law. You will
find in it the record of the distinguish-
'ed president's private life for the past
ten years without the omission of a
single event of any importance.”
Stuart glanced through the book with
amazement. }
“How did vou come into possession
of such facts?”
1 “No trouble at a 11.,” was the easy
answer. “It only requires a little mon
ey and a little patience and a little
care in selecting the right men for the
right job. Any man in the business
world who thinks he can do as he
pleases in this town will wake some
morning with a decided jolt. The war
for financia! supremacy has developed
a secret service which approaches per
fection. Not only do I systematically
watch my employees until I know ev
ery crook and turn of their lives, but
I wateh with even greater care the
heads of every rival firm in every de
partment of the incustrial world where
my interests touch theirs.
“] not only watch the heads of firms:
I watch their trusted assistants and
confidential men. In that big safe »
thousand secrets lie locked whose rev
elation would furnish matter enough to
run the yellow journals for the next
five years. Modern business is war,
the fiercest and most cruel the world
has ever known. It is of greater im
portance to a modern captain of in
dustry to know the plans of his enemy
than it ever was to the commanding
general of an opposing army."”
“]1 see,” Stuart responded thought
fally.
“I'here are men down there in the
street now,” Bivens went on dreamily,
“who are wearing silk hats today for
whom the prison tailor iz cutting a suit.
I have their records in that silent little
steel clad room. It's a pitiful thing,
bnt it's life.
“T'he scarcest thing in New York to
day, Jim, is the man who can't be
bought and sold. The thing that's be
yond price in the business world is
character combined with brains.
That's why 1 made you the offer 1 did
once upon a time to come in with me.
There are positions today in New York
with a salary of half a million a year
waiting for men who can fill them. If
I could find one man of the highest or
der of creative and executive ability
who would stand by me in my enter
prises 1 conld be the richest man in
the world in ten years.”
Stuart lifted his eves from tle rec
ord he was casually scanning and
smiled into Bivens' dark, serious face.
The look silenced the speaker. 'The
Jittle man knew instinctively that Stu
art was at that moment weighing his
own life and character by the merciless
standard he had set up for others.
Judged by conventiopal laws, he had
nothing to fear. He was a faithful
member of his church, He gave lib
erally to its work and gave generous
ly to a hundred worthy charitias. He
loved his wife with old fashioned loy
alty and tenderness and grieved that
she was childless. He stood by his
friends and fovght his enemies, asking
no quarter and giving none.
Yet in his heart of hearts he knew
that. however loftily he wmight dais
course at present about “character)
“honor,” “integrity” aud *“fair deal
ing,” he had stolen the formula from
his big hearted employer, Woodman.
with which he had laid the foundation
of his fortune. 1t was fhe first hait
million that came hard. [t was this
first half million that bore the stain of
shame.
His other questionable acts on which
the fate of millions had often hung he
had no difficulty in justifying. Busi
ness was war!
Bivens waited for Stuart to speak
The moment was one big with fate,
Stuart was about to reach a decixion
that would make history. No one
knew so well its importance as the
keen intellect that gleamed behind the
little black eyes watching with tire
less patience. DBelow he could hear
the roar of the city’'s life. Men bought
and sold with no fear of tomorrow
Yet a single word from the lips of the
tall, clean shaved young officer of the
law and a storm would break which
might tear from the foundations insti
tutions on whose solidity modexn civ
ilization seemed to rest.
“Wwell, Jim,"” Bivens said at length
“you are going to act?” :
Stuart rese abruptly, his reply sharp
and clear: i
“Yes, I'm going to act.” i
“At once?" Chue
“It's my duty.” R
Bivens grasped his hand.
1 congratulate you. Jim. You are
coing to do a big thing, one of the
biggest things in our history. Youare
going to teach the mighty that the law
is mightier. It ought to land you at
the very top in politics or any other
old place you'd like to c¢limb.”
“That's something which doesn't in
terest me yet, Cal. The thing that
stuns me is that I've got to do so pain
ful a thing. DBut my business is the
enforcement of justice. There's one
thing I still can't understand—why
you of all men on earth should have
put this information in my hands. The
honor of the achievement. if good shall
come to the country, is really yours,
not mine."
“And vou can't conceive of my act
ing for the country’s good?"
Bivens' black eyes twinkled.
“Not by the wildest leap of my imag
ination.” :
The twinkle broadened into a smile
as the lawyer continued:
“Your code is simple, Cal. There's
no provision in it for disinterested ef
fort for others. This time you've got
me up a tree. You have rendered the
people a great service. You have placed
me under personal obligations. But
how you are going to get anything out
of it is beyond me."
“Qh, I'll have my reward, my boy.”
Bivens answered jovially. as his dainty
fingers again stroked his beard. press
ing his mustache back from the thin
THE LEADER-ENTERPRISE TUESDAY DECEMRER 3, 1912
lips, “and T assure you it will not be
purely spiritual.”
The door had scarcely closed on Stu
2rt when Biveus pressed the bhutton
which called his confidential secretary.
In a moment the man stood at his el
how with the tense erect bearing of an
orderly on the field of battle. The
quick nervous touch of the master’
hard on that button had told to his
senxitive ears the story of a coming
life and death struggle. His word«
came with sharp, nervous energy:
YPR N
“A meeting of the Allied Bankers
here in thirty minutes. No telephone
messinees, A personal summons to
each. Thev enter one at a rtime that
no one on the outside sees them come "
CHAPTER IX. -
The Storm Breaks.
HE sensation which the district
attorney sprang in the sudden
indictment of the president of
the Iroquois company was proe
found and farreaching. The day before
the indictment was presented to the
grand jury stocks began to tumble
without any apparent cause.
When the warrant for the arrest of
the great man had been served. and
he was admitted to bail to await hi~
coming trial, there was a feeble rally
in the market, but the rats quickly be
gan to desert a sinking ship. The
president under indictment had ceased
to be a power. There was a wild
scramble of his associates who were
equally guilty to save their own skins
The press, which at first denounced
Stuart, now boldly demanded the mer
ciless prosecution of all the guilty. and
they hailed the brilliant young district
attorney as the coming man.
For six consecutive days stocks had
fallen with scarcely an hour’s tem
porary rally. Every effort of the bull
operators, who had ruled the market
for the two years past, to stem the
tide was futile. Below the surface. in
the silent depths of growing suspicion
and fear, an army of sappers and min
ers under the eve of one man were
digging at the foundations of the busi
ness world—the faith of man ip his
fellow man.
Each day there was a crash, and
each day the little financier and his
unscrupulous allies marked a new vie
tim. In the midst of the campaign
for the destruction of public credit
which Bivens and his associates, the
Allied Bankers, were conducting with
such profeund secrecy *and such re
markable results, when their profit:
had piled up into millions, a bomb wa
suddenly exploded under their ow.
headquarters.
The Van Dam Trust company wa:
put under the ban of the New Yor!
clearing house. The act was a breac!
of faith. utterly unwarranted by an:
known law of the game. But it wa
done.
When the president of the compan;
walked quietly into Bivens' office anc
made the announcement for a momen
the little dark man completely lost hi
nerve. Cold bheads of sweat starte:
from his swarthy forehead.
“There must be some mistake.”
“There's no mistake. It's a blow be
low the belt, but it's a knockout fo
the moment. They know we are so!
vent, two dollars for one. But the;
know we have $£90.000,000 on deposit
and we have some big enemies. The;
know that the group we have support
ed have smashed this market, anc
they've set out to fight the devil witl
fire. They're determined to force :
showdown and see how much rea
money is behind us. We can pul
through if we stand together.”
Bivens snprang to his feet, exclaiming
fiercely:
“Until hell freezes over!”
The banker smiled feebly for the
first time in a week.
“Then it's all right, Mr. Bivens
We'll pull through. They'll start ¢
run on us tomorrow. [ive millions i 1
cash will meet it, and we'll win hand:
down. We have powerful friends
OQur only sin is our association with
your group. We must have that five
millions in the safe before the door:
are opened tomorrow.”
“You shall have it,” was the firm an
swer.
With a cheerful pressure of the hanc
the president of the Van Dam Trus!
company left, and Bivens called his
secretary.
“We turn the market tomorrow—or
ders to all our men. Knock the bottom
out of it until the noon hour, then
turn and send it skyward with a
bound.”
* * * * * * *
When Dr. Woodman returned home
that night from one of his endless
tramps among the poor Harriet opened
the door.
Something about the expression of
his face startled her. TFor the firs!
time in her life she saw in its gaunt
lines the shadow of despair.
“What is it. papa. dear?' she asked
tenderly, slipping an arm about his
neck as she drew him down into his
favorite chair.
“What, child?" he responded vaguely.
“You look utterly worn out. Tell me
what’s the matter. I'm no longer a
child. I'm & woman now—strong and
well and brave. Let me help you.”
“You do belp me, baby!” he laughed.
with an effort at his old time joyous
spirit. “Every time 1 touch your little
hand you give me new life. Some day
your voice will thrill thousands as it
now thrills my heart. You'll win fame
and wealth for your father. You shall
care for him in old age. I'm not mis
erable. I've really had a gooed day.
I've spent the whole afternoon super
intending the distributing of flowers
among the hospitals. I saved a kid's
life with a flower. His father used to
work for me in the old days. They
asked me to come to see him. There
was no hope. He had ‘been®given up
To be continuined eur next issue
We are still maintaing our past record for
handling the most complete line of Holiday
Goods in Fitzgerald. '
OCur line consists of:
Sterling Silver
Dressing Cases
Sterling Silver
Manicure Cases
Ebenoid Dres’g Cases
Hand Mirrors
Military Brushes
Collar Boxes '
Smoking Sets
' Chafing Dishes
Brass Jardiniers
Brass Vases
Denmark Drug Co.
780 Renalle Store
Why Trade m Fitzgerald!
Because :
Our Merchants will treat you right
Because:
’ They will give you Better Goods
at the Same Money than the Mail Or
der Houses. 4
Because: ' 4
They build the City and Help pay
the Taxes in the City and County.
Because: | |
It is True Economy to spend your
money at HOME and let it circulate
at home.
!
~Chamber Of:Commerce
Brass Umbr’la Stands
Fountain Pens
Fern Dishes
Music Folds .
Perfumes
Casaroles
Pipes
Merschaum Pipes
Cut Glass
Christmas Candies